You could tell that by the number of people who turned out to celebrate his birthday last Saturday.

They also don’t come any smarter than his children, Dana and Janice, who threw the party.

Dana Ono’s experience includes over 20 years of senior management in public and private biotech companies.

Most recently, he was a co-founder, president and CEO of IntraImmune Therapies, Inc., a biotechnology company which he sold to Abgenix, Inc. (Nasdaq:ABGX) in 2000.

Prior to heading IntraImmune, he was founder and principal manager of several successful early stage biotech companies in the Boston area.

Throughout his career, Dana has been engaged in the strategic planning, product management, technology acquisition and commercial development of biotech startups.

A founding director of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council, Inc., Dana is a frequent spokesperson for the biotechnology industry.

He has authored a number of scientific articles and edited the book, "The Business of Biotechnology—From the Bench to the Street."

Dana received his AM and PhD in Biology from Harvard University and his AB in Earth & Planetary Sciences from The Johns Hopkins University.

"I enjoy the creative process of building compelling ideas and concepts into sustainable, productive companies.

He says:

“From my roots as an evolutionary biologist, I view the growth of companies similarly — always in a dynamic state of flux and requiring timely resources and talent to continually evolve.

“It is immensely gratifying to cast people, technology, capital and a bit of luck together to create something that has never existed before into a living, organic entity focused on what I consider to be a worthy cause— solving the scourges of human disease. It doesn't get any better than this."

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Just a local kid out of Bridgeton, whose dad was yanked from college and placed into an interment camp in 1941.